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I think he means he wants to see more of Blanks. Obviously we're high on him but does anyone consider him a can't miss at this point? Gonzalez is still young enough and cheap enough for the next coupla years that they can rebuild around him and maybe be in good enough shape financially to hang on to him through his entire prime. Right now I'm leaning towards that and getting something for Blanks in trade after the season, assuming his development continues.

The ? you have to ask is how close can Blanks be to Gonzalez at 1B compared to how much more you can get back by trading Gonzalez instead of Blanks. There's also the fact that you can essentially start over with Blanks and control him longer and cheaper than you currently can Gonzalez, but I don't think we know the financial abilities the new ownership will have, at least I don't know any of that yet.

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I would still keep an eye on Matt Buschmann and Josh Geer. Ramos has been better this year than anyone expected. LeBlanc has the most potential if he can become more consistent with the command of his two-seam fastball.

All of these guys are #4 or #5 starters, but the Padres need those too.

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I would still keep an eye on Matt Buschmann and Josh Geer. Ramos has been better this year than anyone expected. LeBlanc has the most potential if he can become more consistent with the command of his two-seam fastball.

All of these guys are #4 or #5 starters, but the Padres need those too.

LeBlanc's problem is not so much that he doesn't throw hard, but that he only began throwing his two-seam fastball last year; which he still doesn't have full control. A big question may have been why didn't the organization have him start throwing it when he first came into the organization instead of only when he got to AAA?

Aaron Breit throws very hard, but everything is in the middle of the plate and he has no secondary stuff. Right now he's trying to stay in the bullpen in LE after a bright start. I agree with the Padres to some extent that there is more to pitching than just lighting up a radar gun, but you better have quite a bit of movement to offset the loss of velocity; and unless LeBlanc can master a fastball that is not as straight as the one he used in his rise up the system, he will have a tough time.

Geer throws about as hard as LeBlanc, the big difference is when he is healthy they are nearly all sinkers at different speeds on both sides of the plate; and he's effective as he showed last year.

Personally, I've always liked Geer more than LeBlanc. He throws his best pitch 80% of the time compared to LeBlanc who has to throw his worse to get to his best (the changeup(s))

Ramos is pitching well now, and maybe he has turned the corner. However, I've just seen him lit up too many times to be that enthusiastic, but I could be wrong.

Buschmann is a lot like Geer and may have been the best pitcher in San Antonio last year. However, SA is such an extreme pitcher's park its tough to really judge how effective he would be on the MLB level. Still you have to respect what he has done the past year and how he has started the year.

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Does anyone know who the Padres pitching coach is at FW? They are 7-0 with 4 shutouts. 13 pitchers have pitched thus far and only two of them have given up any earned runs. It would be wonderful to believe that we just have insane pitching talent down there but .... my years of being a padre fan have taught me some skepticism. Either way, very very impressive thus far.

Vin Scully -- "Ask not for whom the Bell tolls. He tolls for San Diego."

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LeBlanc's problem is not so much that he doesn't throw hard, but that he only began throwing his two-seam fastball last year; which he still doesn't have full control. A big question may have been why didn't the organization have him start throwing it when he first came into the organization instead of only when he got to AAA?
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I disagree. I think the lack of velocity is a big deal. Just look within the last 15 years. How many pitchers made it with such a fringe fastball (82-87)? He has no margin for error, which is something young pitchers need.

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Does anyone know who the Padres pitching coach is at FW? They are 7-0 with 4 shutouts. 13 pitchers have pitched thus far and only two of them have given up any earned runs. It would be wonderful to believe that we just have insane pitching talent down there but .... my years of being a padre fan have taught me some skepticism. Either way, very very impressive thus far.

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Does anyone know who the Padres pitching coach is at FW? They are 7-0 with 4 shutouts. 13 pitchers have pitched thus far and only two of them have given up any earned runs. It would be wonderful to believe that we just have insane pitching talent down there but .... my years of being a padre fan have taught me some skepticism. Either way, very very impressive thus far.

They have insanely good pitching there and also in LE, and SA although both LE and SA P staffs have struggled early on... I like Watt, Schdmit, Castro and Bass the best at Ft Wayne..